Rosie Banner, Daughter from another Universe
by TKcloud9
Summary: After the events of Avengers, the Tesseract begins to act up again, depositing a teenage girl in SHIELD-one who calls Bruce Banner "dad" and Clint Barton "Featherbutt". Can Rosie Banner learn to live with the counterparts of her family and friends? Lots of fluff, spoilers for all movies after Avengers.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the Avengers, just my OC Rosie.**

 **A/N: So, this is a story about Bruce having a daughter. It'll be one of a series of stories where all the Avengers have kids, but in completely separate universes, not all at the same time. This is Banner's. Enjoy the fluff!**

It was a day after the battle of New York. The Avengers were still at SHIELD New York HQ, being treated for injuries, guarding Loki, and more importantly, guarding the Tesseract.

It was 2 in the morning when the alarms started going off. The Tesseract's energy levels were spiking dangerously high. The Avengers assembled in the room, weapons at the ready, along with a ton of SHIELD agents.

"Is this another part of Loki's plan?" Fury asked Thor.

Thor shook his head. "He no longer has control over it."

"So someone else is sending something through," Clint said. " _Great_."

"Don't they know it's our day off?" Tony added, firing up the repulsors in his suit just in case.

The portal from the Tesseract started to form and everyone tensed. The portal began to glow and they started hearing a voice filtering from the portal. It sounded like a girl... "No! No you can't do this to me! Stop! Take me back!" There was a bright flash of light and energy, and there stood a teenage girl, dirty, her clothes ripped and scorched, screaming and sobbing. "No!" She yelled, oblivious to the twenty people holding weapons. Before anyone could stop her she shook the Tesseract's case like you'd shake a magic 8 ball. "No! Take me back! Please! Take me back!" She dropped the Tesseract onto the table and fell to her knees, sobbing heart-wrenchingly and looking dizzy. She pulled a tiny arrow from her shoulder and growled. "You bird-brained jerk..." she slurred, and passed out.

Everyone was still staring, frozen, at the unconscious girl, when Clint said mildly, "Uh, guys, she's bleeding." They all saw the growing red stain under the girl's midsection then.

Fury snapped into action, calling in a med-team, securing the cube, having the Avengers stand down, and starting Tony and Bruce on the job of tracing where she'd come from.

The unknown girl was rushed to the med ward. She had three bruised ribs, burns on her hands and face, various bruises and cuts, and an energy blast wound under her left ribcage. She also had a tiny puncture wound from a tiny arrow on her neck.

Clint was looking at the arrow, turning it over and over in his hands. He looked pale.

"Clint?" Natasha asked, eyeing him. "Do you recognize it?"

"It's mine, Tasha," he said in a hoarse tone. "This is one of mine."

"That's impossible," she stated flatly.

He showed her the purple and black feathers, and the tiny hawk on a shield that was always stamped into his weapons. "This is definitely my signature," he said. "How-"

She put a hand on his arm and squeezed it reassuringly. "We'll figure it out Clint."

Six hours later the girl was starting to wake up. The Avengers went en masse to question her, although Bruce and Steve were in the front, being the less threatening looking ones of the group.

The girl sighed softly and her eyes flickered open. She stared up at the white ceiling and groaned. "Whuh, what hap-" she stared, her eyes in the general direction of the team, and then she froze. And her already-pale face turned an ashy grey. "Dad?" she whispered.

The Avengers shared a glance. "No ma'am," Steve said gently. "You're in a SHIELD medical facility."

"SHIELD... Steve?" the girl said, still having trouble focusing. "Cap'n 'Murica? That you?"

"Yes."

She closed her eyes. "I thought you were dead. You're all dead. Why are you here? Am I dead too?" she demanded, her eyes wide.

"You're definitely alive," Bruce said, coming closer to help her lay down again. "Are you in pain?"

"It hurts, daddy," she said softly, grabbing his hand.

Bruce froze. "I, I'm not your dad." He pulled his hand away from hers. "I'm sorry."

The pain meds wore off right about then, and she stared, wide-eyed and clear-headed, at them. "Oh no," she moaned, her head dropping back to the pillow, "I remember." Tears started to fill her eyes.

"Can you tell us how you got here?" Steve asked, glancing uncomfortably at the others. He didn't know what to do with a crying girl.

She made a visible effort to compose herself and nodded. "I, well, this is going to be hard to explain. You know what the Tesseract is?"

"A glowy blue source of infinite energy," Tony supplied helpfully.

"Descriptive as ever, Tony," she said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, that's what it is. But it also can create portals."

"Yeah, we know," Clint said. "Your point being?"

She glared at him. "My point being stop shooting me, Featherbutt."

"Excuse me?" he said, eyes wide, and heard Tony snicker.

The girl closed her eyes again, fighting for clarity. "Sorry, I forgot- anyway. Point being, the Tesseract doesn't only create portals between two points in spacetime, but it can also create portals to different versions of itself. As in, alternate universe versions of the Tesseract. I'm from one of those universes. Approximately, 12 universes to the," she looked at her hands, "left."

"You're from a different universe," Steve stated.

"Yes."

"Go on," Tony urged.

"Okay. In my universe, SHIELD had the Tesseract and brought my dad in to study it and figure out how to harness its power. They knew what HYDRA had done with it and wanted to use it to make their own version of those weapons."

"Phase 2," Tony supplied.

"Okay, so they did that here too. Anyway, that was a few years back, because Loki ended up banished here as a mortal and started working for SHIELD. Well, he's on probation. If he does anything suspicious Tasha's supposed to kill him, Thor or no Thor." She rubbed at her forehead tiredly, not noticing the others' complete shock. "Anyway. Um. My father figured out the whole alternate universes thing and we've been experimenting with it, trying to get it to connect. And then, a month ago-" She broke off and her eyes filled up with tears again and she bit her lip, hard.

Bruce reached out awkwardly and patted her lightly on the arm. "It's okay," he said. "Take your time."

That only seemed to make it worse, and a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She took a deep breath. "And then a month ago," she continued, her voice shaky, "this army appeared, from space. These aliens, called the Chitauri."

Everyone flinched.

"They were led by this guy, I don't even know what his name was. But he brainwashed people. Erik Selvig, Clint, Loki, used them to bring his army into New York."

"We know," Steve said. "That just happened."

She stared at them. "But how are you still here?"

"What?"

"How are any of you still alive if that happened?" She looked like she was going to cry again.

"What happened in your universe?" Tony asked, trying to keep her on track.

"They won the first battle," the girl said, her voice shaky, her tone haunted. "New York fell within twenty four hours. We got Clint and Loki back but lost Erik to the battle. We couldn't figure out how to shut it down. There was literally no way to do it, not even with the Phase 2 weapons. They worked against h Chitauri, but there was just so many of them. The Chitauri just kept coming, and coming, and everyone just kept fighting. But we were losing. We lost Natasha in the first week. And the helicarrier went down in the Pacific the second week. Iron Man and War Machine were dead by the third week. They died protecting us. We got to New Mexico. We tried to send a message to Asgard but they didn't answer. They're at war with Jotunheim anyways. Thor's there, now. I hope he's still alive. I don't know. He probably is. He's the king you know."

She wasn't even seeing the people in the room with her anymore, the looks of shock and horror on their faces. "We got access to the Tesseract, once the portal was closed. At last count there were 24 million Chitauri. Loki died saving a SHIELD base. He redeemed himself. Anyways, it wasn't enough. We were still losing. But my dad figured we could use the Tesseract to power the weapons and win, or at least, you know, avenge. We were doing it, it was working, too. But then one of those big worm carriers came. Cap died right in front of me. It was really just Clint left. And then my dad decided to save me, instead of power the weapons. He opened a portal to the closest universe in alignment and tried to get me to leave. I didn't want to leave him, but he said, there still might be a chance. So Clint shot me with the tranq and they shoved me through. Something exploded, and then, I don't know. I was here." She started crying in earnest, then. "They're all dead. All my family, and, my dad..."

Surprisingly, it was Natasha who came forward, wrapped her in her arms, and held her close, letting her cry and rubbing her back, murmuring soft words in Russian. She didn't let go until the girl had stopped crying. "Just rest," Natasha said, smoothing the blankets out over the girl.

The girl looked to be on the verge of passing out again, but she tugged at the pendant around her neck. "Take it," she mumbled. "Information, it's a timeline, confirmation, schematics." She blinked a couple of times.

Natasha took it gently.

"Wait, wait, what's your name?" Clint asked.

The girl blinked. "Rosie," she finally said, before sleep took her. "Rosie Banner..." And she was out like a light.

Everyone's jaws dropped and they all turned to stare at Bruce. He was pale. "No way," he kept muttering.

"You have something you wanna tell us, bro?" Tony asked casually.

Bruce stood up suddenly and bolted from the room, breathing deeply. He felt like he was going to throw up.

To be frank he wasn't the only one. To learn that in another universe the battle you'd just fought twenty- four hours ago was still going on but you were _dead_...

Tony grabbed the pendant from Natasha before he could stop himself, and inspected it. The gold broke open to reveal a USB stick. "Interesting," he muttered. "Computer," he demanded.

"This way, come on," Clint said, leading them out.

"Whatever you say, Featherbutt," Tony retorted, grinning.

"Stark, shut up or I _will_ shoot you."

They got Bruce in the hallway and trooped over to a computer lab. Tony accessed the USB device, and immediately a video screen popped up. On the screen was Bruce Banner. "Greetings, to whichever universe this USB finds itself in. Hopefully, I'm there too, so, hi me. In this USB, you will find a general history of Earth and the other realms, and the recent events that led up to the transfer of this USB. If we are in any way ahead of your timeline, or have done things you haven't, for the sake of the world, use that knowledge to benefit the human race. Goodness knows we all need it." The video finished, and immediately switched to another one.

In this one Bruce Banner appeared, dirty and ragged, an oozing cut in his forehead. There were explosions and noise behind him, and in his eyes was a gleam of desperation. "Listen to me," he said. "I don't know if your universe is the same as ours, I don't know if you won against the Chitauri or not. We've lost. Even if we succeed today we've lost far too much. But there is a chance to save someone. Captain America, Hawkeye, and I are going to try and take the Tesseract. We plan to send my daughter through. Rosie Banner. She's 16, she's a genius, slightly dyslexic." He ducked as a familiar shield whirled through the air above him and collided with something out of camera. "Please, if you're SHIELD, if you're the Avengers, take care of her. If you're a random person on the street who has no idea what we're talking about, help my daughter, please." He looked like he was going to cry. "After she's gone through, hopefully safe on the other side, we're going to use the Tesseract and blow the place up. It's the home base of the Chitauri. Hopefully with them gone, the rest of the Chitauri will die. But we won't be alive to see it. We knew that going in. I hope the Avengers of your world were better. I hope you get this video. Attached is all of Rosie's file, all of our pictures, her medical record. She's allergic to pineapple." He flinched as a Chitauri came up behind him and fell with an arrow in its neck.

"Banner we gotta go!" came Captain America's voice off the screen, hoarse and ragged, but determined.

"Don't tell her what we've done," Banner said to the camera. "She's thinks we're powering the Phase Two weapons. If she knew, she wouldn't go through. She's stubborn. Watch out for that." He picked up the laptop and ran with it, the camera shaking. "And tell her, tell her I love her."

The camera went static-y and the screen went blank. A second later a menu popped up to access the rest of the files.

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. They were all too shell-shocked.

"We won, right?" Bruce asked finally, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah," Natasha said, swallowing hard. "We won."

"Just checking."

"I cannot believe..." Thor started, choked on emotion, and then continued, "I cannot believe that we would have lost in New York. Why didn't we succeed?"

"Maybe because you weren't there, to begin with," Natasha said, but there was no blame in her voice.

Tony accessed the files. "The Avengers Initiative," he said. "Put together by Nick Fury. Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America- that's it? We know the other Thor's off-world in that world, but no Hulk?"

"The other me was there, though," Bruce pointed out.

"True..." Tony pulled up the SHIELD file that said 'Bruce Banner.' He skimmed it quickly and his eyes widened. "There _is_ no Hulk in that universe."

"What?"

He moved the screen so they could see. "Dr. Bruce Banner, after the death of his wife he became an expert in gamma radiation, started working for SHIELD to harness the energy, formally protested against Phase 2, developed the transport through universes..." He trailed off. "Only relative, daughter, Rose Banner. Apparently she was a SHIELD consultant as well."

"Wife?" Banner asked, his hands shaking.

"Wife," Tony repeated. "A, uh, Dr. Elizabeth Ross. Died in an accident involving gamma radiation -" he broke off as they realized that it would've been around the same time as the accident that created the Hulk.

Bruce dropped into a nearby chair and held his head in his hands. "That should've been me," he groaned, shaking visibly.

Steve put a hand on Bruce's shoulder, keeping his tone level and soothing. "Bruce, it's okay. You're fine, Betty is fine. She's alive, and she's okay. Just focus on that."

"Yeah, and you're both dead now in that universe," Tony said, and promptly received a punch in the arm from both Clint and Natasha. "OW! You both can't do it at once!"

Bruce smirked. "Whatever."

They browsed the rest of the file about the battle of New York, and Tony realized something. "Where's Coulson?" he asked, ignoring the twinge of grief in his chest. "There's no Coulson in this entire file."

"Look him up," Clint ordered.

Tony searched the USB, and came up with nothing.

"He doesn't exist in that other universe," Steve said.

"Yet he was the key to our working together in this universe," Thor said, hitting the nail on the head. "Without him and the Hulk it is no wonder the Avengers did not win."

"So what do we do now?" Tony asked. "What do we do with mini Banner?"

"They asked us to take care of her, so that's what we're going to do," Steve said firmly.

"Cap, we can't just-"

"Yes, we can," he interrupted. "Who else is going to take care of her? She just lost her entire _universe_. She doesn't have anyone else." Out of the people in that room he knew exactly what that girl was going through.

"Steve's right," Bruce muttered. "We can't abandon her." He ran a hand over his face. "I don't know if she'll even accept me, though. I mean, _her_ father didn't turn into a giant green rage monster."

"We're all going to help you," Natasha said, "it's okay."

He sighed heavily. "Okay."

Rosie stayed unconscious for a long time. Fury gave the Avengers custody of the girl and she was moved to Stark Tower with a nurse to watch over her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter Two! This story will be pretty short.**

The next day Thor and Loki left with the Tesseract. "I wish I was not going," Thor said somberly. "There is still much to do, and the girl..."

"She'll be fine," Steve said. "Just, come back whenever you can."

"I will."

The Asgardians returned to their own realm, and the Avengers returned to Stark Tower. "Which frankly, is now Avengers Tower," Tony said, as they were gathering in the living room. "I mean, if you're all going to have your own floors here it can't just be my name on the top of it."

They all shared a glance. "What are you talking about Stark?" Steve asked.

"You're all getting your own floors," Tony repeated. "I thought I told you."

"Nope."

"Oh. Well it's in the specs. Jolly Green, where would you like to put your new daughter? The same floor as you or a whole separate floor?"

"Um, a separate floor, I think. She is 16 after all. Don't they want freedom or something?"

Everyone shrugged. "I don't know the first thing about kids," Tony said.

Clint raised an eyebrow at Bruce. "We're not the best people to be asking. None of us even had parents."

"This is going to be a very steep learning curve," Bruce said.

"Yep."

JARVIS spoke up. "I believe Ms. Banner is waking, sir."

"Oh goodness," Bruce groaned.

Tony clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, mister. We've got to go see her, and tell her what's going on."

Bruce stood up and they went with him to the medical ward.

Rosie was there, staring up at the white ceiling, tears running silently down the sides of her cheeks. She looked up when they came, and wiped her eyes. "Hi," she said, and held her side as she coughed.

"Hey," Bruce said, coming forward and checking her monitors. "How are you feeling, Rosie?"

She gave him a tremulous smile. "I'm okay, I guess." She looked around the place. "Is this, is this Stark Tower?

"Yes," Tony said. "What do you think?"

"It's, tall?"

He laughed. "Yes it is. And once it's rebuilt it'll be better than ever."

"Rebuilt," she echoed. "Oh yeah..." She blinked back a few stray tears. "So, what happened here?"

They took turns telling the story, and finished with her entry into this world.

She was silent the entire time, and when she finally spoke she asked, "Who's the Hulk?"

Nobody answered. They all stared at each other for a long second, and turned to look at Bruce. "Uh..." He laughed nervously. "That's a long story."

"Well I'm not going anywhere," she pointed out.

"No, I guess not."

Steve ushered the others out. "We'll just go find something to eat for lunch," he said.

"But I wanna hear," Tony complained.

"Out," Natasha said firmly, shoving him along.

Bruce sat down in the chair next to Rosie. "Okay," he said. "You know how not everything's the same?"

"Yeah."

He hesitated. "How much, how much do you remember about the, uh, the accident where your mom died?"

"I was little, I don't really remember much. Dad was supposed to be there too, but, he came to pick me up because I got sick at school." She frowned at him, curiously. "What does that have to do with anything?"

So Bruce told her the story of how he injected the super soldier serum on himself and the gamma radiation changed him into the Hulk. He told her the whole story of General Ross's obsession with him, and his exile in Calcutta before being found by SHIELD. He didn't dare look into her eyes, afraid to see the revulsion and the fear that everyone showed.

"So you're a superhero," she said.

He laughed wryly, still avoiding her eyes. "If you wanna call it that."

She picked at the blanket, looking down shyly. "Are you going to go back to India?" _Please say no, please say no, please don't leave me alone..._

He looked up sharply. "No, not without you." He dropped his gaze again as she looked up. "I mean, not if you don't want to."

"What are you saying?" she asked.

Tony burst in. "Oh for goodness' sake, just get it over with. He wants to keep you and we want to keep you and you're not going anywhere and you're not alone so for everybody's peace of mind will you just hug or something?" He was promptly dragged out of the room by Natasha.

Bruce and Rosie stared at each other, surprised, and then both of them started laughing. Rosie pressed a hand to her bruised ribs and held her hand out to Bruce. He took it hesitantly and squeezed her hand. "You're not afraid of me?" he asked.

She smiled brilliantly. "No, why would I be? You're not any different from my dad."

"I turn into a giant monster."

"So? You're still sweet and kind and you're the same genius and you like helping people. That's good enough for me." And she hugged him.

He froze for a second and then carefully wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, mindful of the bandages.

"Finally!" Tony said, bursting back in again with the Avengers in tow. "We brought lunch."

Lunch was pizza, and then they stayed talking for a long time, getting to know Rosie. It was slightly disconcerting how well she knew them, and teased them. Clint, especially.

"What is your problem with my spy name?" he asked, finally.

She blushed. "It's, well, the first time we met you kind of shot me with a Nerf gun, and then, I don't know. Me and Clint, my Clint, he was just like my brother. We insulted each other all the time and pulled pranks on people and he taught me to shoot." She smiled briefly. "We had this routine."

"What was it?" Clint asked, smiling at the thought of having a little sister.

"Well if you were being mean, I'd call you Birdbrain. You'd retort with Four-eyes-"

"Four eyes?" Bruce asked.

She touched her face absently. "I'm supposed to wear glasses. I lost them in the fight."

Bruce made a mental note to get her some glasses.

"And then?" Clint said.

"And then I call you Featherbutt, and you call me Hunchback."

"Hunchback?" Tony said, inspecting her back. "Yep. You have your dad's posture."

She laughed self-consciously. "Too many hours at a computer."

"Yeah."

Clint grinned. "I think I'm going to like having a little sister."

"And _then_ ," Rosie said, "we usually end up poking each other or smacking each other or something. But if we could hold off till my ribs aren't bruised that'd be great."

He reached over and flicked her forehead.

"Oi!" she protested, but she was laughing.

She got out of the medical ward a couple days later, and was moved to the floor above Bruce.

"Are you going to be okay up here?" Bruce asked worriedly. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to get me, or JARVIS, or have JARVIs get me, or Steve, or Clint, or Natasha-"

She hugged him. "I'll be fine, d- don't worry. I think I can handle going to bed."

He grinned sheepishly, not even noticing her stammer. "Sorry. I'm just a little anxious."

She gave him another quick hug. "It's fine. Good night."

"Good night." On impulse, he kissed her forehead. "Sleep tight."

She burst into tears as soon as he left. She'd almost called him 'dad.' She'd almost forgotten this wasn't her universe. She curled up in bed, crying silently, and thought about her father. She knew, somehow, that he was dead. That explosion that had followed her... She was not an idiot by any means. She knew that if they thought it would help, he and Hawkeye would've blown up the base. She sobbed outright at the thought. She should've been with them, should've died with them. Should've died instead of Captain America. Steve shouldn't have died for her. She wasn't worth saving. She thought about all the other people who'd died, and finally, started to grieve.

JARVIS watched her crying well into the night, when she finally fell asleep from pain and exhaustion. And then he told Bruce, who was still awake, "Miss Banner has gone to sleep."

"Thank you, JARVIS," a worried Bruce said, and went to bed.

The next morning when Rosie woke up she felt sore and her eyes felt swollen and her throat hurt. She lay there in bed, just thinking, thinking about her people and this universe's people, and decided to stay in bed. She shouldn't even be here after all. It's not like anybody would care.

Steve was the first to notice her absence. "Jarvis, where's the Banners?" he asked, at the breakfast table.

"Dr. Banner is still asleep and Miss Banner is in bed." JARVIS paused for a second and then continued, "It seems like she has no intention of leaving her room."

The ones at the table exchanged a worried glance. "Do you think she's okay?" Clint asked worriedly.

"Her heart rate and blood pressure are steady, but her neurotransmitter levels are borderline depression," JARVIS reported, doing a full scan. "She's also in pain from her injuries."

"Poor kid," Natasha said, standing up. "I got this."

They watched her go and Clint said, "She's finally discovered her mothering tendencies."

"I didn't even know she had any," Tony said.

"She's full of surprises," Clint said, smiling briefly.

Natasha made her way up to Rosie's room and knocked. "Rosie?" she said softly.

Rosie sighed. "Come in."

Natasha came in and sat next to Rosie on the edge of the bed. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"You're a really bad liar."

"I know," Rosie said flatly.

Natasha held up the roll of bandages. "Here. Let me help you." She gave the girl an encouraging smile. "Trust me, you'll feel better."

Rosie sighed again but did as she was told and sat up.

Natasha checked her wound to make sure it wasn't infected, and then re-wrapped the bruised ribs.

"Thanks," Rosie said, giving her a quick smile.

"Now that you're up, you want to have some breakfast?" Natasha asked, pulling the girl out of bed as she spoke. "Steve made pancakes with chocolate chips."

"I don't know," Rosie said reluctantly. "I'm not really hungry."

"Come on," Natasha coaxed, "Steve's a regular fifties' house wife. He makes the best pancakes this side of anywhere."

Rosie grinned. She could just imagine Captain America in an apron. "I guess."

"Great." Natasha moved to the wardrobe. "What do you want to wear?"

Rosie picked out her clothes and Natasha helped her put on the shirt. They got in the elevator and Rosie said quietly, "Thanks."

Natasha squeezed her hand briefly before letting go. "No problem"

The others greeted Rosie with smiles and hugs, and Steve dished out the pancakes. She only ate a pancake and a half and stared at the other half.

"You're done?" Tony asked, surprised. "I thought kids ate a lot."

"Yeah... I don't eat a lot."

"Oh."

"So, where's Pepper?" Rosie finally asked, after a long awkward silence.

"Pepper's in DC, at a conference," Tony said.

"Hey kid, you want to go shopping?" Natasha asked abruptly.

Rosie blinked. "Shopping?"

"Yeah. You can't keep wearing the same clothes forever."

"Oh. Yeah. Um, sure." She looked at Bruce. "Can I?"

They all turned to look at him. "Yeah, sure," he said. "Just, don't get too tired and don't lift anything heavy."

"Okay."

Tony handed Rosie a credit card. "Here."

"What, Tony, I-"

"Take it," he said. "You earned it, a million times over." He shooed them towards the door. "Go on. Go spend money, get some clothes."

"Maybe one of us should go with them," Steve said.

"I'll go," Clint said, and followed the girls out.

They went to Brooklyn, since it was mostly untouched, and hit all the shops, getting everything from underwear and socks to jeans and blouses to purses and jewelry. Clint trailed along behind them carrying bags and pointing out sales.

"I still can't believe it," Rosie said, looking at all the buildings and the people walking past. "I can't believe that this is all still standing." She frowned. "This was all gone on that first day." She gave a shaky laugh. "I never thought I'd see this place again."

Clint wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Well, you're seein' it, kiddo. You have your whole life ahead of you, and whatever you want to do, you can do it." He frowned. "Within reason of course. No drinking or drugs or boys."

Rosie smirked.

They stopped for dinner at an Indian restaurant and Rosie surprised them by ordering in fluent Hindi and making small talk with the owner. "We lived in India for two years," Rosie explained to the spies.

"Cool."

"Yeah. It was fun."

* * *

When they got back, Natasha helped Rosie put everything away and then Bruce knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah."

He came in and found Rosie sprawled on her stomach, looking at a Stark tablet. "This universe is weird," she said, sitting up. "What's up, da- Bruce?" She glanced down.

He squeezed her shoulder lightly, trying to let her know it was okay. "How are you doing?" he asked. "Did you find everything you needed?"

"Yeah." She grinned. "Never turn down an offer of Tony Stark's credit card."

He grinned at that. "How's your ribs?" he asked.

"Still sore."

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault." She picked at a loose thread on her sleeve.

"Uh, I have a few questions," he said. "Just, to know what to do now you're here."

She looked at him warily. "Okay..."

"What grade are you in?"

She laughed. "First year of college. I graduated last year."

"That's impressive," he said. "You must be smart."

"JARVIS says my IQ is 150."

"What are you studying for?" Bruce asked.

"Computer science."

"Nice."

She smiled wistfully. "Mom always said that I got the best of both brains."

"Your mom," he started, and then fell silent. "Never mind."

"Does she exist, here?" Rosie asked hesitantly. "I know the general does, but..."

He sighed heavily. "Yes, she does."

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"The Other Guy happened."

"Oh." She was quiet for a moment and then said, "You don't have to talk about it. If you don't want to."

"No, it's fine." He took a deep breath, and told her the story of their brief relationship.

"So there's definitely no chance of there being a me," Rosie said.

"No."

"Oh. Okay. Just checking." She fidgeted for a bit longer and then asked, "Can you tell me about the other guy?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?"

"Is he, well, is he like another complete personality, or is it just a part of you, and how do you keep him calm, and-" She stopped talking. "Sorry. I ask a lot of questions."

"Asking questions is good," he assured her. "Never be afraid to ask questions." He saw her expectant face and sighed. "Okay. First question."

They talked for a long time, and afterwards, Rosie leaned her head on Bruce's shoulder. "I think I like this guy."

Bruce smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. "I think he likes you too."

They had dinner with the Avengers, and then everyone went back to their rooms. Bruce was reading the latest medical journals on the tablet when JARVIS spoke up. "Dr. Banner, you wished to be notified if Miss Rosie was ever in distress."

"Is she? What's wrong?" Bruce asked, dropping the tablet and starting towards the door.

"I believe she is having a nightmare."

 _"CAP!" Her shriek went unheard in the battle, and Rosie's face went ashen as she watched Captain America fall to the ground in front of her. She dropped to her knees beside him. "Steve, Steve, no-"_

 _"Rosie!" Hawkeye picked her up. "We have to go."_

 _"But Cap!" she protested, trying to get back to him._

 _Clint pulled her along. "He's gone, he saved you, we have to go, now!"_

 _"STEVE!" she cried, watching as his body was engulfed in flames when the building went down._

Rosie jolted awake, disoriented, sweating, crying, her throat hoarse from screaming. "No," she sobbed, curling up into a little ball, trying to get her breath back. "No, no..."

"Shhh," a soothing voice said, rubbing her back. "It was just a dream. It's okay."

"Daddy?" she whimpered, still unable to move.

"Not quite," Bruce said, smoothing her tangled hair away from her face. "Do you remember where you are?"

"Stark Tower, different universe," she whispered, closing her eyes in despair. It wasn't just a dream. It was memory. But, "Is he okay?" she demanded, sitting up, filled with the desperate need to make sure that this universe's Cap was still here.

"Steve's fine," Bruce said soothingly. "Everything's okay." He pulled her into his arms.

She started crying again, fisting her fingers in his shirt. "It's not okay," she said, her voice cracking. "He died for me. He shouldn't have died for me, I wasn't worth it. He was right there, right in front of me, and now he's dead, and he shouldn't have been..." She trailed off, unable to stop crying.

Bruce shifted his hold on her and continued to card his fingers through her hair. Somehow he knew that the only way he could make it better was just to hold her. "JARVIS, can you get Steve up here if he's awake?" he asked quietly.

"Of course sir."

Steve came into the room a minute later, hesitantly, seeing the sobbing teen and worried looking Bruce. He knelt next to Rosie. "You wanted to see me?" he asked quietly.

She lifted her head and looked at him, a fresh wave of tears rolling down her cheeks as she launched into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I just wanted to make sure you were alive," she sniffed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said quietly. "What you went through, it's perfectly normal to have nightmares and flashbacks. I still have nightmares, and my war was seventy years ago." He rubbed her back lightly, careful of her bruised ribs. "Nobody should have to experience anything like that," he said, "and even I can't imagine what it was like. But you don't have to be sorry, or ashamed, of anything you're feeling." He tipped her chin up, made her look at him. "Whenever you need me, or any one of us, no matter what time it is, you can get us. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay," she finally whispered. "Thank you."

Steve gave her a final hug. "You are very welcome." He let her get up and shared a glance with Bruce.

"Thank you," Bruce said quietly.

"No problem." The super soldier left, feeling guilty about causing her pain, even though it was all his doppelganger's fault.

Bruce took the trembling girl into a hug. "What Steve said, he was right," he said quietly. "I don't care if it's two in the morning or 2 in the afternoon, whenever you have a nightmare, or a flashback, or you want to talk, or cry, I'm here for you, okay? I know it hurts, but it will get better eventually. I know it doesn't feel like it but it will."

"Yeah," she said softly. "Thank you."

He gave her a gentle smile and helped her get up. "You wanna take a warm shower?" he asked. "I find it usually helps after a nightmare."

She nodded. "I think that would be good."

"Okay. I'm going back to my room, but don't hesitate to get JARVIS to call me, all right? Or you can come get me." He gave her an encouraging smile and left, trying to calm his own heartbeat. The Hulk wanted to get out and SMASH whoever made Rosie cry, but it was hard explaining alternate universes to the other guy. "Deep breaths," he murmured to himself.

Rosie took a long, hot shower, and when she came out she found DUMM-E just finishing remaking the bed with fresh sheets. "Thank you," she told the robot. "Good job."

The robot squeaked in pleasure and scurried away.

She got in bed, and the rest of the night was spent in dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter 3, spoilers for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Agents of SHIELD. Eheheh. My timeline moves pretty fast...**

Slowly, slowly, the Avengers and Rosie began to heal. Steve and the two SHIELD agents returned to active duty, taking on missions and assignments. Rosie enrolled in online classes at NYU to finish her degree, Bruce went on trips to different places to try and find a cure or a control for the Hulk, and Tony, Tony took Pepper and went to Malibu. Which basically meant that the Banners were in charge. Which basically meant Rosie.

She became a little bossy housekeeper to the Avengers, coordinating the house schedule and keeping the upper floors of the tower ready for anyone to drop in. She piddled around in the lab even when Bruce wasn't home, always under JARVIS's careful supervision, and she was always ready to keep Clint, Natasha, and Steve company when they had downtime. And she had plenty of Skype calls with Tony and Pepper.

"I think he's got PTSD," Rosie told Bruce during one of their lunch breaks.

"Who?"

"Tony."

He patted her head fondly. "Rosie, we've all got PTSD."

"Yeah I know, but I'm coping. You're coping. Steve is coping. Clint and Natasha have been coping for years. But Tony's just ignoring it. He's not talking to Pepper, and he's not sleeping. I'm worried about him."

"How do you know he's not sleeping?" Bruce asked, then realized. "JARVIS?"

"I only wish to see Sir in the best of health," JARVIS said.

"Maybe you can talk to Pepper," Bruce said. "Go to Malibu, make Tony start dealing with his issues." He grinned wryly. "If anyone can, it's you."

"Really?" she asked.

"Of course. You're the most persistent 16-yr-old I've ever met."

"I'm the only 16-yr-old you've ever met."

"Exactly."

So Rosie went to Malibu - and nearly died two days later when the house was destroyed by the Mandarin. She managed to fight her way out of the wreckage and drag herself onto the shore. She lay there for a few minutes, gasping for breath. Then, "Tony!"

She bolted upright and scanned the horizon, looking for Tony in the water. Hopefully he'd gotten to his suits in time, but there was no way to know. She heard the sirens of the police cars and struggled up the beach to where the house used to be.

The paramedics checked her over and pronounced her fit, and after she gave her statement to the police Pepper came to get her. "Are you all right?" Pepper asked, grabbing the girl in a tight hug.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Have you heard from Tony?" Rosie asked worriedly.

"No. He wasn't with you?"

"No." Rosie's eyes began to fill with tears. "Pepper what if he's-" She choked. She couldn't even bring herself to say the word.

Pepper hugged her tightly. "He's not," she said firmly. "I know it. He can't be." She dug out her cell phone. "Call Bruce, he's probably worried sick."

"Oh, I really hope he didn't see the news," Rosie muttered, calling him. As soon as he picked up she asked, "Dad?"

"Rosie," Bruce said, barely noticing what she'd called him. "What's up?"

"Um... are you sitting down?"

"Yes..." he replied suspiciously. "Why? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm totally fine. Uh, you know the Mandarin right?"

"Yeah..."

"He just blew up the mansion."

"WHAT!?"

"Don't freak out!" Rosie pleaded. "Me and Pepper are okay. Tony's gone missing but he's probably fine."

"Come back to New York," Bruce ordered. "Right now."

Pepper took the phone from Rosie. "I'm putting her on the jet within the hour," she promised. "Yes, Bruce, we're fine. Rosie's fine. Not a scratch on her. Yes. Okay. Bye." She hung up, and took Rosie's hand. "Come on. We've got to get you safe."

"I want to help," Rosie insisted.

"Rosie, sweetie, you can help by going to New York and keeping Bruce from Hulking out. That would actually be the most helpful thing you can do right now."

Rosie sighed. "Fine. But you'll tell me when you find him right?"

"Right away," Pepper promised.

A few days later, the news was full of the breaking story: Iron Man destroys all his suits - what will Tony Stark do now?

He came home to the Tower without an arc reactor in his chest a week later. Rosie met him with a hug and a slightly hysterical scolding. "You really need to stop sacrificing yourself," she told him, hugging him. "I thought it was going to happen again."

He raised an eyebrow at Bruce and patted Rosie on the back. "I'm okay, Rosie. Pepper's okay. It all turned out fine. And now I have projects to work on."

Pepper and Rosie left to talk about the former's experience with Extremis, and Bruce glared at Tony. "What'd I do?" Tony asked.

"You nearly killed my daughter," Bruce said in a low voice, one that said he was being extremely calm.

"Bro, she's not actually yours, remember?"

"Yes. She is." Bruce poked him in the chest, directly on the new skin. "You invited a terrorist to strike the house _my daughter_ was living in. Then you disappeared, and we all thought you were dead. She's been having nightmares and flashbacks for a week and a half, Stark, and she hasn't slept more than two hours at a time. You have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault," Tony said. "Okay, it kind of was. Let me tell you the whole story."

Afterwards Bruce ended up forgiving Tony slightly, but warned him, "If you ever carelessly endanger Rosie's life again I swear I will let the Hulk smash you to bits."

"Understood," Tony said, eyes wide. "Man, you really got the protective father thing down, don't you?"

"And don't you forget it."

Rosie enrolled at NYU at the beginning of the year. She wanted a degree in Computer Science, and Bruce promised that yes, they would stay in New York long enough for her to finish her degree. She stayed on campus most of the year, but the Avengers didn't allow her to stay there for too long. One or the other was always popping up and taking her out to different places. She never lacked for things to do on the weekends.

During the summer, she decided to visit London. There was a great science conference in Greenwich and she wanted to sit in on some of the seminars. With connections like Tony Stark, she could get in anywhere.

She got a call on her cell phone a couple days later. "Hi Tony," she said into the phone. "What's up?"

"You need to leave Greenwich right now."

"Why?"

"Thor just called. He's back from Asgard, and there's a-"

A loud noise brought Rosie's attention towards the window. Her jaw dropped. "A hole in the universe?" she asked weakly.

"Yes, how did you- Rosie, get out right now! There's an alien army!"

She swallowed the fear that those words brought, and pushed down flashbacks from the last war. Things were different now. "No way, Tony. They're going to need help!" She hung up and ran outside, dialing Jane Foster's cell phone.

"Rosie?" Tony yelled into the phone. He glared at the phone. "Bruce is going to _kill_ me."

"Most likely, sir," JARVIS agreed politely.

Several hectic hours later, Rosie called Tony back.

"Oh good, you're alive," was the first thing he said. "You _are_ alive, right? I haven't told your father yet where you are, you _better_ be alive, or I will kill you myself, and then jump out of the tower without my suit cuz Bruce is going to go mental if-"

"I'm alive," Rosie interrupted. "Everything's fine. A little crumbly, but everything's fine."

"Oh. Good." He sighed in relief. "Thor and Jane okay?"

"Yeah, everybody's fine. Thor's leaving pretty soon. He's got to go do kingly stuff."

"Cool, hey, pass him the phone, mini-B?"

"Sure." She gave Thor the phone and went to sit next to Jane. "You all right?" she asked the scientist.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jane gave her a wan smile. "You?"

"Well, for almost being killed by a dark elf, yeah." Rosie smiled wryly.

Thor gave the phone back. "Thank you, Rosie."

"No problem. Are you going to come back, eventually?" Rosie asked hopefully.

Thor smiled, but his gaze was directed at Jane. "Yes. For a long visit, this time."

Jane's smile could've lit up the world.

Rosie went home to New York after that, and spent time with Bruce and the others until the fall semester started. Hard at work with a full course-load and an internship at Stark Industries (yes, it was blatant nepotism) she hardly even saw any of the Avengers. Bruce went to Indonesia for a while, searching for a medicinal herb, and she Skyped him on the weekends.

She went back to her dorm after her Chem class and fell onto the couch, flipping the TV on. She stared at the picture on the screen for a moment before her brain registered what she was seeing. The helicarrier hovering over Washington DC, on _fire_ , _crashing_... It took her a moment for the newscaster's words to register on her brain.

"We're discovering now that the organization called SHIELD has been a part of a neo-Nazi organization called HYDRA that has been responsible for terrorist attacks and espionage since the 1940's. The US government is calling for all SHIELD agents to stand down and be taken into custody-"

Rosie didn't hear anything else, since she was frantically calling Tony Stark. "Tony!" she yelled. "What's going on?"

"We've been in Malibu for the last week, I have no idea," Tony replied, frustrated. "Pepper and I are on a plane back to New York right now, kiddo. Sit tight and don't contact any SHIELD agents."

"What about Steve? And Natasha? And Clint?" Rosie asked. "They're not HYDRA, right?" There was a terrible pause. " _RIGHT_?" she pressed.

"Right," he said firmly, after a moment. "Let me call Capsicle to get the situation. In the meantime, you need to go to Avengers Tower. As soon as you're there, I'm putting JARVIS on lockdown till we get home, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good girl. Go now. Call your dad and tell him to stay in Indonesia. HYDRA does not need to get their hands on the Hulk."

"Got it." She hung up the phone and picked up her backpack. She stuffed some clothes in her bag, along with all her homework, and placed a call to her dad. She bumped into her roommate as she left the dorm. "Hey, uh, Brianna?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going home for a bit, family emergency. See you later!"

"Bye!"

"Rosie?" Bruce asked over the phone.

"Hi dad." She carefully explained what was up, and he promised to stay in Indonesia.

"I would fly you down here, but honestly it's safer in New York," Bruce said wryly. "Be careful, okay?"

"Okay."

"And I mean actually careful, not fight Dark Elves careful."

She sighed. "Dad, I only did it that one time."

"Call me when you get there."

"I will."

Rosie found the top half of the Tower empty and desolate. "JARVIS?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss Banner?"

"Are we on lockdown now?"

"Yes," JARVIS replied. "Not to worry, Miss Banner, the fridge and the pantry are fully stocked, enough to feed an army. Mr. and Mrs. Stark will be here in seven hours."

She grinned wryly. "Nice." She put on a movie, and turned on her Stark tablet to surf the news about SHIELD. She found her google searches blocked. "JARVIS, what are you doing?"

"Best not to look," he said tactfully.

"I can hack my way in," she retorted.

"I'm only trying to protect you," he retorted. "Plausible deniability and all that."

She sighed. "Fine."

It was a few hours later that JARVIS announced, "Captain Rogers and Ms. Romanoff are here."

"Well let them in," Rosie said, not even looking up from her textbook.

There was an uncharacteristic pause.

Rosie looked up at the ceiling. "JARVIS?"

"Their identity needs to be verified," he said. "At Mr. Stark's orders."

Rosie's jaw dropped. "JARVIS, they're not HYDRA. You know that."

"Please, Miss Banner, I need you to verify their identities."

She turned on her tablet and accessed an outside camera. "Guys?" she asked over the mic.

Natasha looked up at the camcorder. "Rosie? Let us in, will you?"

"I'm going to need proof of your identities," Rosie said.

Natasha huffed. "You know who we are, Rosie."

"I know, but JARVIS is on lockdown right now. I need proof."

Steve spoke up. "Rosie, do you remember the second night you came to live with us? The flashbacks?"

"Yeah..."

"It's me."

His honest, open, and weary face convinced Rosie, and more importantly, convinced JARVIS. The door opened, and the pair walked through.

Rosie hugged them both as soon as they walked into the living room. "Are you guys okay? Do you need medical attention? Stitches? What happened? Why didn't you call anybody for help?"

"Well it's not like we planned any of this," Steve said, exasperated.

"Right. Sorry." Rosie grinned sheepishly. "It's just that JARVIS won't let me watch anything except Netflix and do homework, and Tony won't say anything, and it's driving me crazy not knowing."

Natasha sighed. "It's pretty bad, kiddo."

"How bad?"

"SHIELD is gone," Steve said frankly. "There's loyal agents scattered all over the world, but Nick Fury is dead and he's taken the leadership with him. The three helicarriers are gone, and we have no idea what's going on."

"Knowing Fury, he probably left someone in charge. Someone loyal," Natasha mentioned. "SHIELD will rebuild."

"How did HYDRA take over?" was Rosie's next question.

"They've been there all along," Natasha replied, her tone angry though her face was tired.

Rosie listened in growing horror as they told her the tale of Project Insight (she was a target) and HYDRA's growth among SHIELD. "So now what?" she asked uncertainly.

"Now..." Steve sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Now we're full-time Avengers, I suppose. No more SHIELD missions."

Rosie let them go shower and change, and started making dinner. Just as she was finishing, Tony and Pepper walked in the door. "Good, I've just finished the sauce."

The superheroes discussed plans over dinner. Clint was in South America somewhere in deep cover doing who knows what, and wouldn't be back for a month. Bruce was in Indonesia, and staying there for good reason. And Thor was off-world.

"As for us, our mission is simple," Cap said. "Stop HYDRA."

The next day, the loyal SHIELD agents came flooding in to Avengers Tower. Stark suddenly found himself with his own miniature SHIELD division within Stark Industries, and promptly turned them to private security and defense against HYDRA. "We get better perks," was the slogan.

Rosie took the next few terms off as she and Tony developed a strategy against HYDRA. They would look for bases and agents, and the Avengers would go off to get rid of them. It was a good system. Thor came back a couple months in, and joined the good fight whole-heartedly. He and Tony started a "my girlfriend is better" contest that drove everyone else crazy, and besides the missions, life was pretty normal.

Rosie was waiting for the Avengers to get back one night, when suddenly JARVIS said, "Miss Banner, my protocols are being overriden-" his voice cut off sharply as the elevator doors opened.

Rosie grabbed the stun gun strapped to the bottom of the table and pointed it unerringly at the man who walked through the door. "Don't move," she demanded. "JARVIS, you okay?"

"It was a temporary situation, Miss Banner," JARVIS replied.

Rosie studied the man in front of her. He was older, short, wearing a neatly pressed suit, with a kind expression. She tilted her head. "Who are you?" she asked again.

"Miss Banner, my name is Phil Coulson. I'm the director of SHIELD."

She gaped, but the stun gun didn't waver. "Phil Coulson is dead," she stated firmly. "He was killed two years ago."

"I was," he agreed, "but then I came back to life."

"JARVIS?" Rosie asked. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Scans and DNA records would seem to indicate that this is indeed Agent Coulson. Welcome back, sir."

Rosie lowered the stun gun. If JARVIS was welcoming him back, she could trust him. "And you said you were director of SHIELD?" was the next question.

"Fury left me in charge," he said. "I've come to take back my people Stark's been filching."

She grinned. "Yeah, have fun with that. Tony's not going to give them back. They can leave, if they want, but we're kind of busy and we need the backup."

"Oh I know," he said. "Taking down HYDRA is a full-time job."

She grinned wryly. "You know it."

Coulson gestured around vaguely. "So, I heard your origin story. What's it like now, living in Avengers Tower?"

"It's great," Rosie said. "I get all the best toys."

Coulson grinned. "Good. Tell Stark to call me when they get back."

"Yes sir." She watched him turn around, and suddenly remembered something. "Wait!"

"What is it?"

She held up a hand. "Don't go anywhere. Just, wait one minute." She ran up to Steve's floor, and opened his desk drawer. A small stack of vintage trading cards sat in the desk, blood-stained, and signed by Captain America himself. She picked them up reverently and went back downstairs. "These are yours," she said, handing him the cards.

Coulson's eyes widened as he saw them, and he smiled softly. "Thank you, Rosie." He tucked them into his jacket pocket.

"Without you," she started uncertainly, "there were no Avengers in my other universe. Thanks."

"Thank _you_ ," he said, shaking her hand. "See you around, Miss Banner." And he was gone.

No one believed her when Rosie told the story. Clint flat out accused her of lying, Thor reprimanded her for having poor taste in jokes, and everyone else glared at her. "I'm not lying!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "JARVIS, show them!"

Silently, JARVIS put up the footage of Coulson's visit.

"He's alive?" Clint asked, looking suspiciously teary-eyed. "And he didn't _say_?" He slammed his fist on the table.

"Easy, Barton," Natasha murmured, looking rather unsteady herself.

"This is good news!" Thor boomed. "SHIELD is in safe hands with the son of Coul."

"You know his dad wasn't actually named Coul," Tony said.

"I know."

"Okay, just checking."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Last chapter! I can't exactly write anymore without the next few movies, soo... enjoy! Spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron.**

With SHIELD on their side, providing backup and targets once in a while, HYDRA seemed to be going down.

"You know what we should make?" Tony asked one day, as they were working in the lab.

"What?" Rosie asked.

"Ultron."

Both Banners groaned. "Tony, come on," Bruce said.

"What? It's a good idea."

"A homicidal robot that thinks for itself identifying targets?" Rosie asked skeptically. "That does not sound like a good idea."

"Yes, it is," Tony insisted. "We're not going to last forever. Well, Bruce might, but the rest of us won't. And having Ultron patrol the world and wipe out evil would be a way of insuring the future. Don't you want kids, Rosie?"

"No," she said flatly.

He rolled his eyes. "Tell her, Bruce."

"Tony, you can't fix the world."

"We can _try_."

He was so sincere in his desire to help the world that Rosie couldn't help but cave in. "I guess we could _try_ …"

"Great!"

But things got in the way, and they got incredibly busy.

And once they found Loki's scepter at a HYDRA base, all the focus turned to that.

Not to mention Tony was still Tony Stark, and he was obliged to have parties. He forced everyone else to attend them as well.

"It's so not fair," Rosie pouted, sitting at the bar near Natasha.

"What's not fair?" Nat asked, sipping her vodka. "Clint having been recently shot and still being forced into a tux?"

"He's totally healed, Natasha. The regen cradle is 100%. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm _bored_. I'm not even an Avenger, nobody actually knows who I am, but Tony still makes me come to these things. I can't even drink to make the time pass."

Nat ruffled her hair fondly. "It doesn't help, sestrenka. Stick to your sparkling cider and smile. Go talk to people."

Rosie huffed. "I don't like talking to strangers."

Natasha smiled again. "You're just like your father."

Rosie smiled briefly. "Yeah."

Bruce came over then, and started talking to Natasha. The way she responded to him made Rosie's eyes nearly fall out of her head. Bruce left, flustered, to talk to Steve, and Rosie asked, "Did you just flirt with my dad?"

"Possibly." Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Are you, okay with that?"

Rosie frowned. "I… I don't know. Are you serious about him? You're not just trying to be…you? No offense."

Natasha smiled. "None taken. And yeah, I think I'm serious."

"Oh." Rosie nodded slowly. "Well, if it works out, I guess that's okay." She smiled briefly. "I mean, the Hulk likes you, so…" She trailed off awkwardly. "Yeah. It's his life, after all. I'm just kind of an extra."

"Don't say that," Natasha said. "You're a big part of his life, and everyone else's lives too. Who else would have hot meals waiting for us after missions? And who else would bug Thor into using his indoor voice?"

"He's doing okay now," Rosie said, glancing over at the Norse god, who was having a "whose girlfriend is greater" contest with Tony. "Indoor voice FTW."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You're such a nerd."

"And proud of it."

"Good girl."

Eventually the party wound down around two and it was just the Avengers, Rosie, Hill, Rhodey, and Sam aka the Falcon who were sitting in the lounge, drinking and chatting. Rosie was barely awake, resting her head on Bruce's shoulder. Somehow the conversation got around to Mjolnir, which was sitting on the table.

"I bet I could lift it," Tony said.

Bruce's snort of derision made Rosie startle. "Whuh?"

"Whosoever, be he worthy, lifts the hammer would have the powers of Thor, blah blah," Clint said, slightly slurring.

"Worthy," Tony scoffed.

Thor only smirked. "Go ahead and try."

Tony walked over to where the hammer stood. "If I lift it I get to rule Asgard?"

"Of course," Thor said, grinning.

Tony wrapped his fingers around the handle and puled.

Rosie watched with interest as his face turned an interesting shade of purple. "You're going to give yourself a hernia," she said.

"I got this." He came back with his Iron Man gauntlet. Didn't work. He and Rhodey tried together. Didn't work.

Rosie was giggling this time. "Cap, you try it," she said.

He went over and pulled at it. It rocked slightly and Rosie laughed as Thor's eyes nearly fell out of his head, and he looked at Steve with newfound respect.

Bruce gestured to Natasha.

The redhead smirked and tossed back a swig of her vodka. "That's not a question I need answered," she retorted.

Rosie giggled again.

"Hold on, hold on, I think a better translation of it is whoever carries Thor's fingerprints," Tony said, still trying to figure out a way to lift it.

Thor smirked. "I have a better idea."

"What?"

He twirled it in his hand. "You're all just not worthy."

"Ooooh," Rosie said, as everyone groaned.

Suddenly the lights flickered.

"JARVIS?" Tony asked nervously.

A high-pitched sound filled the air and a broken robot dragged himself into the room. "How could you be worthy?" the robot rasped. "You're all puppets."

They went into superhero mode immediately and started rising from their seats, almost instantly sober.

"Ultron," Rosie whispered, recognizing the cadence of the voice they'd been working on. "Tony what did you do?"

"Created perfection," Ultron replied, and attacked.

It was all a terrified blur as Bruce pulled Rosie behind the sofa and told her, " _Stay down_."

And then Ultron was gone and Hill was helping her up. "You okay?" the ex-agent asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." Rosie went over to Bruce. "Dad? You okay?"

He closed his eyes against the thundering of the Hulk, trying to stay in control. A soft, pleading touch on his shoulder made him relax. "Yeah," he said, giving her a hug. "Everything's okay."

"No it's not," Steve said. "Stark. Start talking."

They argued about Ultron and once they realized that he (it?) had stolen the sceptre and would be coming after them, they got to work.

Bruce snagged Clint's arm as they were leaving. "Hey, uh, Clint?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"You're a spy, right, so..."

Clint gave him an odd look.

Bruce gave a frustrated huff and glanced over at Rosie, who was still yelling at Tony for killing JARVIS.

Clint followed his gaze and realized what he was thinking. "Oh..." he said slowly. "You want me to take her off the grid."

"Exactly," Bruce said, sighing.

Clint clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Bruce. I know the perfect place."

"No," Rosie said stubbornly. "I don't want to go I can help."

"I want you safe," Bruce said, equally stubborn. "That is the best way you can help."

Her eyes filled with tears. "No."

"Rosie, we're trying to keep you safe," Steve added.

She shook her head. "Don't you see? It's happening _again_. You sent me away last time and you _died_." She broke down, sobbing into Bruce's shoulder.

They all glanced at each other awkwardly. Surprisingly it was Thor who stepped up. "Lady Rosie," he said gently, pulling her aside. "Listen to me, child." He wrapped an arm around her. "We are not facing Loki or his army. There are six of us against one robot. I am the God of Thunder, am I not?"

She nodded silently.

"And do you think one measly robot is a match?"

"No."

He gave her an encouraging smile. "And Steven, he is Captain America, practically indestructible. Tony in his suit is safe, Clint and Natasha know how to handle themselves, and your father is truly indestructible. I promise that I will protect them. We will come back to you."

She frowned at him. "You swear?"

"I swear."

She swallowed hard a couple times and nodded. "Okay. Okay, fine."

Before she and Clint left, Rosie made everyone promise to stay alive, and hugged her father within an inch of his life.

"Stay safe," Steve told her.

"Seriously, kid," Tony added. "We're counting on your grilled cheese sandwiches and soup when we come back."

She gave them a tremulous smile. "Yeah."

They got in the jet and Clint started the engines. It was mostly a quiet flight, and they eventually left the cities and were flying over the countryside. "Don't tell me we're going to a cabin," Rosie groaned. "I need technology and flush toilets."

"You survived in India for a year," Clint reminded her.

"Yeah but that was before I lived in Tony Stark's house."

He smirked. "No, it's not a rustic cabin." He landed the jet.

"It's a farm?" Rosie asked. "Is this one of your super-secret safe houses?"

"In a way," Clint said, following her out of the jet, holding her bag. "Welcome to my farm."

"It's really great," Rosie said. "Is there, like, a keeper or something?"

Clint grinned. "You could say that." He opened the door and went in. "Honey? I'm home."

A woman came out of the back room. "Clint, you're early! I was barely going to start dinner." She gave him a kiss. "The kids are out in the hay loft."

"Great." He nodded to Rosie, who was doing an imitation of a gaping goldfish. "This is Rosie. Rosie, this is Laura, my wife."

"Wife?" Rosie echoed.

"Yep."

"Daddy daddy daddy!" a small voice screeched, and two miniature hurricanes rushed in.

Clint picked them both up. "Hey, munchkins! I brought you a playmate!"

Rosie's eyes widened. "Kids?" She stared at Clint. "And when were you going to tell us? When you became a grandfather?"

He shrugged. "Dunno."

"Natasha knows, doesn't she?" Rosie asked.

"Of course."

Rosie nodded. "Cool." She knelt down to talk to the kids. "What's your names? I'm Rosie."

Clint stayed long enough to eat dinner and make sure Rosie got settled, and then he kissed his wife and children goodbye. He gave Rosie a hug. "Take care of 'em."

She smiled. "I will if you will."

He nodded. "See you around, Four-eyes."

"Bird-brain."

"Hunchback."

"Feather-butt."

He smirked, and then he was gone.

Rosie was left with Laura in the kitchen. "So..." Rosie said awkwardly. "How long have you two been married?"

It wasn't two days later that the entire Avengers team showed up on the farm. "Getting a bit crowded, aren't we?" Rosie asked wryly, as everyone squeezed into the dining room to get their late night supper. She ducked Thor's arm and nearly face-planted into Steve's back. "It's like a forest of biceps," she complained. "Steve, you better get that cut cleaned out, by the way."

Nick Fury appeared a few hours later. He gave one look at Rosie, and she gathered the kids up. "Let's go catch fireflies," she suggested, herding the kids out the door. "Hey Laura, you have any Mason jars?"

"Subtle," Clint smirked, as they left.

Rosie stuck her tongue out at them.

"Well at least she's obedient," Fury said, raising an eyebrow at Stark. "What's the one thing we all told you not to do?"

"Blow up the world?" Tony replied.

"And yet you did it," Fury scowled. "The Avengers need to get their act together and stop this."

When Rosie woke up in the morning, the Avengers were gone. There was a note on her pillow that read, "Love you -Dad." She sighed. "You could've said goodbye," she grumbled, getting up.

It was a few days later that Clint and Natasha showed up. The archer, somber and quiet, went immediately to his wife, and Natasha helped Rosie pack. "Where's Dad?" Rosie asked.

Natasha stilled. "Uh..."

"Oh, the kids right?" Rosie asked. "Did he Hulk out really bad?"

Natasha nodded. "Last I saw him, he was still the Other Guy."

Rosie raised an eyebrow. "Last you saw him? Did you not come back together? Did you guys have a fight?"

Natasha sighed. She should have made Steve come with her. "Rosie," she started, "after the battle, he left."

"What do you mean he left?" Rosie demanded. "Left for where?"

"We don't know. He was in a cloaked quinjet last we saw him. He's not responding to any comms."

Rosie shook her head in disbelief. "Why, why would he..." She glanced at Natasha, eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Natasha said, holding up her hands in defense.

Rosie frowned at her.

Natasha sighed. She could hold up under intense interrogation, but Rosie's frowny face? "We might have talked about getting together," she admitted. "The two of us, going off for a while, away from the rest of the world."

"You scared him off," Rosie said bluntly. "That's why he ran away. That's why he left me." She sat on the edge of the bed, numb.

"Rosie, I am so sorry," Natasha said, reaching out a hand.

Rosie flinched away, and then threw her arms around the older woman, bursting into tears. "He could've at least gotten me," she sniffed.

Natasha petted her hair softly. "I know, Rosie, I know. I'm so sorry. But it's okay. He'll be back, as soon as he's cooled down, thought it through rationally. In the meantime, we'll take care of you. You're not alone, okay? You're never alone. We're here for you."

After Natasha and Clint told Laura and Rosie the whole story, Natasha, Clint, and Rosie returned to Avengers Tower. They assisted in moving the Avengers to the new Avengers facility in upstate New York, which would be run by Fury, Hill, Doctor Cho, and Selvig. Once everything settled down, Tony returned to Malibu to be with Pepper, and Clint returned to his farm. Captain America and Black Widow were in charge of training the new Avengers: Rhodey, Vision, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff.

And Rosie? She made instant friends with Vision, since he was part JARVIS, and she was slowly working on a friendship with Wanda. She went back to university, finished her degree in computer science with a minor in Artificial Intelligence, and returned to the New Avengers facility as head of her own technical division, under Dr. Selvig.

Every day, she checked the world for trails of gamma radiation, looking for any clue of Bruce Banner's whereabouts.

And then one day, after hacking all the spectrometers in the world to run a trace, she received an email from an unknown source.

"Rosie," it read, "I know you're looking for me, but I need to be lost for a little while. Everything is changing, and I can't risk your life or Natasha's. Please understand. I love you, so much, and I promise you that I am coming back. Just, wait for me, Rosie, please. Love, your dad."

She stared at it for a long time before trying to trace it. It was untraceable, and ten minutes later wiped itself from the server. She gave everyone the news that Bruce was alive and well, and, relatively content, settled down to wait.

All in all, life for Rosie Banner was pretty good. She could only imagine what the future would bring...

 **THE END**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello all! I watched Civil War just today, and this one-shot happened to explain Rosie's role in it.**

Rosie was living in her dream world, taking care of her tech division and building little AI's, - until Lagos happened. Watching the public outrage over the Avengers made her cry angry tears, and she moped in the living room while waiting for her latest program to compile.

"Miss Banner," a supercilious voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up at the Secretary of State and stood, instantly on alert. "General Ross," she said, eyes narrowing.

"I think this meeting has been a long time coming," he said. "How's your father?"

"I don't know," she said, taking a step backwards to distance herself. "I haven't heard from him."

"Hm." His eyes softened as he looked at her. "You look just like your mother. Beautiful."

She crossed her arms uncomfortably and stayed silent. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to the Avengers, actually. Seeing you was just a bonus." He checked his watch. "You know, the American government would appreciate having soemone of your intelligence working for them."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm happy here, thank you."

"You wouldn't want to work with your mother?"

Rosie pressed her lips together. "The Dr. Ross of this universe is not my mother. We've never even met. And, you're not my grandfather. My grandfather is dead."

"Died fighting the Chitauri, did he?"

She took another step backwards. "Yes he did." Her tablet beeped. "If you'll excuse me, General, I need to get back to my work." She did an about-face and nearly bumped into Tony coming in.

"Rosie," he said, smiling at her.

She couldn't smile back at him, and hurried around the corner. As she was leaving, she heard Tony say, "General, you agreed you would not approach Dr. Banner. Just the Avengers." She didn't hear Ross' response.

She went straight to her lab, and locked herself in. After what that man had done to Bruce, she couldn't believe he would try and make nice with her. "What are you doing here?" she asked the air soflty. She tapped in to the security cameras, and with growing outrage, watched the General's discussion with the Avengers.

"So, talk it over," he finished.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Steve asked.

"Then you retire." He laid a card on the table. "Give this to my granddaughter. I have a feeling she'll be needing a new place of work."

Rosie's jaw dropped. "Jerk," she breathed, watching her family start to argue. She closed down the feeds and ran upstairs. "He's crazy!" she blurted, interrupting Rhodey's plea for calm.

"Rosie," Tony started.

"No!" she said, tossing the card in the nearest trash. "All he wants is to exploit you! You know what he did to my father, what he'll do to the rest of you if you don't cooperate! Are you all crazy?!"

"Rosie, it's not like that," Tony said calmly. "We need to be kept in check."

"By people with revenge on their minds?" Rosie screeched. "Do you know what he'll do if my father dares show his face ever again?"

Tony looked down guiltily. "It wouldn't come to that."

"It would."

"Rosie's right," Steve said. "The safest hands are still our own."

The next few days everything dissolved into chaos. The Winter Soldier came back into play, a crazed SOkovian bent on revenge came into play, the UN freaked out, Wakanda freaked out, the Avengers fought each other, and before she knew it, Rosie found herself at a UN Task Force facility.

"You've got to help us find out where Steve and Bucky went," Tony said.

"No," Rosie said simply. "Where are the others? Clint, Wanda, what's his face?"

"They're being held in custody pending trial," Tony said uncomfortably.

Rosie dropped her face into her hands. "Tony, what are we doing?" she asked miserably. "You and Pepper broke up, you put our friends in jail, Rhodey's in the hospital, next thing you know one of you is going to end up dead..."

"Which is why you need to help us," Tony said, "so we can stop this before it gets out of hand."

"It's already out of hand!" Rosie retorted. "I'm not helping you!"

A new voice interrupted their discussion. "If you're not with us, then you're against us," General Ross declared. "Rosie Banner, I'm putting you under house arrest, effective immediately."

"What."

Tony stood in front of her protectively. "Now hold on."

"Move, Mr. Stark." Ross raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I would harm my own granddaughter?"

"I don't know," Tony said.

"I wouldn't."

"Then she stays in my custody," Tony said. "Iron Man. What could be safer than that?"

"Somewhere without access to computers," Ross said icily, as two guards came into the room. "Move aside."

Tony was forced to move aside. "Sorry," he told her.

"Me too," Rosie said, and was led away.

Turns out, house arrest, meant a cell right next to what's-his-face, on the other side of Clint, and across from them, Wanda and Sam. Turns out what's-his-face's name was Scott, and he was really cool. A fellow techie, and they chatted while staring up at the ceiling.

"I feel like we're being used for bait," Rosie said, after a few days of mind-numbing boringness. "Does it feel like that to any of you?"

"The thought occurred to me," Clint admitted, moving from his perch on the bed to roll his shoulders.

"I really hope my dad is not going to come bursting through the ceiling," Rosie continued. "Or the floor, or the wall, or the toilet..."

Wanda giggled weakly.

"I would love a game of tetris right now," Rosie said, heaving a sigh. "Even the eight-bit ones that came on those flip phones."

"Nokia's are indestructible," Clint said. "We used to use them at SHIELD."

Sam snorted. "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Nat gave someone a concussion with one."

"That I can believe."

Another day passed. Everyone was seriously starting to worry, and then, the lights flickered in the cells.

"Guys?" Rosie asked cautiously.

"Whatever happens stay back, Rosie," Clint warned her as he rolled to his feet with deadly intent. Sam and Scott were equally ready to pounce, and Wanda was frozen in anticipation. She couldn't move, anyway.

The door was forced open, and Steve Rogers slipped into the room. He swept the room with his gaze, and sighed in relief. "We don't have much time," he said, and forcibly ripped the key panels from the cells, one after the other. He did Wanda's last, and between he and Clint, removed the restraints from her wrists and neck.

Rosie stayed near Wanda as they all moved out, and Steve led them to a stealth jet that none of them had ever seen before. "Where are we going?" Rosie asked, as Steve quickly lifted off.

"Our new hideout," Steve said. He glanced apologetically at Clint and Scott. "I'm sorry, but, I can't get you to your families yet."

"We understand," Clint said. "And it's only been a few days." He rubbed his face with his hands. "I can't believe it's only been like a week and a half." He sat up again urgently. "What's the status on everyone, Cap? Nat?"

Steve frowned. "Natasha's fine. She's busy backtracking Zemo's trail on the down-low. Bucky, decided to go back into cryo until we can find a way to help him. Tony, Vision, and Rhodey are back at the Avengers facility, and the kid, Peter, is fine."

"What about Rhodey's legs?" Sam asked anxiously.

"He's recovering," Steve said, nodding.

"What all happened?" Rosie asked.

Steve gave them a brief overview, and told them that King T'Challa was willing to give them refuge and sanctuary as long as they needed it. "We're going to be okay," he reassured them.

"But you left your shield," Scott said, incredulous.

Steve frowned and kept his eyes on the sky ahead. "It's not mine."

Rosie reached over and touched his arm. "You're still our leader," she assured him.

"Thanks, Rosie." He glanced over at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm very impressed with myself actually. Not even old enough to drink and I'm already an outlaw worthy of maximum security," she said, looking down her nose at them as they all chuckled.

"You haven't been charged with anything though," Steve said. "We checked. Once we get everyone to safety, you could conceivably go back to the Facility, back to your tech division."

"And work under my not-grandfather?" Rosie scoffed. "Heck no. I wanna be where the cool people are."

Steve grinned. "All right. You'll be impressed with the Wakandans technology, I promise."

And she was. As soon as they landed, they were all whisked off to medical exams, and then given suites in the guest wing of the Wakandan palace. Rosie was introduced to King T'Challa, who knew all about her, and they discussed Artificial Intelligence for a while before he had to attend a meeting.

A week later, Clint's family arrived in Wakanda, here to stay for the foreseeable future. Scott was smuggled back into the States to see his daughter and reassure her everything was fine, and smuggled out again just as quickly.

Rosie was given a research position at one of Wakanda's science institutes, and she absorbed the delightful culture of the Wakandans with the same eagerness as she had the Indian culture from her youth.

The only thing that would make her happier would be knowing where her father was. But she was assured ("yes, okay, Nat, I hacked the Secretary of State's computer to see if he knows where my dad is but he doesn't, it's fine, stop glaring") that he was safe. "No news is good news, right?" she asked Steve.

He gave her a brotherly hug. "Right."

 **The End for now**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello! Post-Civil War angst and some feels for ya :)**

"Ugghhh! Worthless piece of trash!" There was a crash and a thump, and then silence.

Steve poked his head into Rosie's lab and found her slumped over a table, her head buried in her crossed arms. "Everything okay?" he asked quietly.

Rosie lifted her head and faced him with tear-filled eyes. "It's not working," she informed him. "I've tried everything but I'm missing something and it's not working." She let her head fall to the desk with a 'thump'. "I'm sorry Steve," she said miserably, her voice muffled in her arms. "I thought I'd be able to help you help Bucky but at this rate it's never gonna happen."

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side. "What are you trying to do?" he asked, trying to be the voice of reason.

She leaned into his side and pulled up a diagram. "Before all of this started, Tony and I were working on a Binarily Augmented Retro Framing device, aka BARF, which is awful I know, but anyway. It's for working through traumatic memories by reviewing them in a hologram and working with a therapist. He prototyped it right before the whole Accords mess, and I just helped him with the coding for the holograms and the emitters, but-" She sighed heavily. "Not even my tech division can recreate it." She looked up at Steve with big sad eyes. "I'm sorry Steve. I know how much this means to you, Bucky being okay. And with Bucky being okay, you'll be okay, and Tony'll be okay, and... I don't know."

He kissed her forehead, the little sister he'd never had. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Rosie."

"But-"

"No," he interrupted firmly, making her look at him. "None of this is your responsibility. You don't have to feel guilty for any of this mess, or feel like you have to help fix it. There is no pressure on you, all right?"

"But I want to help," she protested. "You guys are family."

He hugged her. "Okay. So, what do you need?"

She frowned up at him. "I need Tony's help."

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

"Okay?" she repeated, surprised. "That's okay?"

"As long as you hide the source, you can contact him, yeah." He gave a sigh. "I don't want to be enemies. Just, careful."

She hugged him. "Thank you. Do you want to send him a message, maybe?"

"Just, hi." He stood up. "I'll let you get to it."

She gave him a bright smile and turned back to the computer.

Tony received a video message from an encrypted-beyond-belief source. It was labelled "Hi." He opened it curiously.

Rosie's face came on-screen in front of a white background. She smiled nervously. "Hey Tony. Long time no see. Um, hi. Oh, and Steve says hi."

"Hi," Tony murmured to the screen, glad to see someone, anyone, from the team.

"So," Rosie continued awkwardly, "Barnes is in cryostasis again. He's afraid to hurt anyone else, afraid that something will come up and he'll be brainwashed again."

Tony winced at the mention of cryostasis. That had to be hard on Steve.

"So, I was wondering Tony, can I have the full schematics for the BARF, or whatever you're calling it now?" She rubbed at her face. "I won't let anyone steal it. I'll even print the Stark label on the side. But we need it, for Bucky, so he won't have to be frozen anymore. And for Steve, too, honestly." She rubbed at her face again tiredly, and Tony noticed she had dark circles.

"What's going on there, kiddo?" he murmured, worried.

She lowered her voice. "He isn't sleeping," she confided in the absent Tony. "He just wanders around at night and talks to Bucky's cryotube, and when he does sleep he's got terrible nightmares. Sam's worried about him. I mean, we all are." She looked at the screen, meeting Tony's eyes. "Please Tony, Tony. I know we ended up on opposite sides but nobody wanted it like this, right? I miss you and Viz and Rhodey." She gasped "Rhodey, I forgot, how is he? Is he recovering?" She sighed. "Okay. I should go now. If you'll help us, you can send the plans to this address-" a link popped up- "and I'll get it." She smiled at the screen. "Thank you."

It was Tony's turn to scrub at his face. How had it gone so wrong? He'd spent days trying to figure out how they could have prevented the split, could've stayed together, or at least not tried to kill each other. He was sure that's what Steve was doing with all his sleepless wanderings. But they'd both been manipulated, the strongest players on the team, and there wasn't anything they could do about it. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

And now the ball was in his court. Steve had sent him the phone, Rosie had asked for his help. They were a family, darnitall.

He stood up. "FRIDAY. Package up the BARF specs and the 3D printer files and send them to the link Rosie gave us, and, actually, send her al her projects we put in storage, and..." he sat down again. "Let me record a video message."

"Yes sir."

The red light blinked on.

"Uh, hi guys. So, the thing should be there, and the other things, and, yeah. I hope you get it to work. Rhodey and Viz say hi, or they would if I told them about this, but it's kind of spur of the moment, so... yeah. Rhodey's recovering just fine." He cleared his throat. "Wherever you are, I hope you have everything you need." He cleared his throat again. "And, uh, I have the shield. It's in my lab, hiding. Waiting, I guess. Don't tell Ross I have it, okay?" He gave the screen a grin. "Kay. Bye."

"He sent it," Rosie said, amazed. She skimmed through the long list of files, diagrams, schematics, and codes. She started to beam. "He sent _everything!_ " She started another video. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She blew a kiss at the screen and sent it.

When Steve saw the video Tony had sent, he just smiled.

Three weeks later, the BARF program was up and running.

A gentle, intuitive Wakandan psychiatrist learned how to use it as a diagnostic and therapy tool with Rosie as a guinea pig. Then he worked with Steve, helping him deal with his sleeplessness and guilt.

The day after Steve had gotten a full eighteen hours' sleep, they unfroze James Barnes.

"Steve?" he muttered, blinking slowly.

"Hey Buck." Steve patted his shoulder. "Welcome back."

"Thanks, I guess." Bucky sat up slowly and sipped some water. "Why..." he trailed off.

Steve gave him a grin. "We have a way to help you work through your memories."

"How'd you manage that?" Bucky asked, surprised.

"Actually, Tony Stark."

A single blink. "Okay."

Nobody bothered to tell General Ross that Stark and the general's not-quite-granddaughter were in almost weekly contact. It would explain how the Avengers and the so-called Secret Avengers managed to keep missing each other by mere minutes.

Nobody bothered to enlighten General Ross as to how Steve Rogers got back his vibranium shield, now painted a solid dark grey and as effective as ever. Stark just slid the UPS bill for export of "triple deep dish pizza sculpture" into his records with a smile.

Nobody bothered to inform General Ross that he was being charged with inhumane conduct regarding victims of gamma radiation until he was being locked into his deep, dark, dungeon-like prison cell.

 **A/N: Okay, this is probably the last chapter until the next movie comes out. Thanks for reading! :)**


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